This miniature replica is of Assyrian
archers from the army of Tiglath Pileser,
King of Assyria, excavated from his palace at his ancient capital,
Nimrud. The bas-relief was discovered at the site of ancient Nimrud during the reign of
Tiglath-Pileser III (747-727 BC). The original is
located at the British Museum in London. The limestone relief is a
fragment of a tablet standing over 3 feet 7 1/2 inches tall.

2 Kings 15:29-
In the days of Pekah king of Israel,Tiglath
Pileserking
of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor,
Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them
captive to Assyria.

Note: Tiglath-Pileser's own words in his annals of "The Campaigns
against the west, and against Gaza and Damascus" (733-732 BC.)
says, "All their people and their goods I carried off to
Assyria."

This map shows the primary capitals of the Neo-Assyrian Empire

Museum Images

Assyrian Archers

Although the chariot was the chief strength of the
Assyrian army, the main offensive weapon was the bow (Assyrian qastu).
The archer typically had a shield-bearer in front of him that wielded a
tall metal shield that stood higher than the archer and it was curved
inward at the top to protect the archer. There were also stone slingers
nearby to take out assaults. The archer was free to fire off a multitude
of arrows. A good archer from the Assyrian infantry could shoot 500-1500
feet no problem. The shafts were made of wood (or sometimes reeds) and
the arrowheads were made of metal. The common archer had a quiver that
could hold up to 50 arrows. The firepower that the archers brought
during an attack was formidable. About 1 out of 5 Assyrian soldiers were
archers, so imagine an army of 100,000 would have 20,000 archers as one
Old Babylonian text from ancient Mari declares.

Information about the Assyrian Archers
Relief

- Gypsum relief from the palace of Tiglath
Pileser III at Nimrud, his capital.
- This gruesome scene reveals the Assyrian army destroying an unknown
city
- The battering ram is used to bring down the fortress walls
- Archers are shooting arrows at inhabitants praying for mercy
- A good Assyrian bow with metal arrowhead could shoot over 2100 feet.
- Notice the large standing shield the archers are standing behind
- The archer had a quiver that could hold 50 arrows
- The shield was made of metal or a toughened skin with dense matted
reeds
- The detailed relief stands 91 cm (3 feet) tall.
- Tiglath Pileser III reigned from 747-727 BC.
- His west campaigns extended from Urartu and Syria to Israel and Judah
- There is a caption on the top that reveals the letter "u" in the
city's name
- This could have been a city in Israel or Judah but it is uncertain
- The event took place during Tiglath Pileser III's reign.
- Tiglath Pileser III attacked Samaria during the reign of king Pekah of
Israel (756-736 BC)
- From the Neo-Assyrian Period (1000-612 BC).
- Excavated at the site of ancient Nimrud (Calah).
- Tiglath Pileser III was one of the greatest military commanders in
history.
- Many regard Tiglath Pileser as the founder of the Neo Assyrian Empire.
- His rule was the beginning of the end for the northern kingdom of
Israel.
- He conquered upper Galilee around 736 BC and carried away captives.
- He also attacked Samaria, Israel's capital, and carried away captives.
- Ancient Nimrud (Calah) was excavated by Austen Henry Layard of Britain
around 1847.
- This stone panel was transported from India and is currently at the
British Museum.
- The brutal Assyrians are slitting throats and impaling naked prisoners
- Nimrud (Calah) was Tiglath-Pileser's capital city (Northern Iraq).

Museum Excerpt
Museum number 115634

Stone panel from the Central Palace of King
Tiglath-pileser III

Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern Iraq
Neo-Assyrian, about 730-727 BC

Attack on an enemy town

The Assyrian soldiers can be identified by their tall pointed helmets,
although the archer and shield-bearer have helmets of an unusual design.
In front of them is an Assyrian 'tank', a battering ram on wheels. These
machines also provided platforms from which archers could shoot at close
range. They were presumably moved by men, as animals might panic.

On the left of the relief Assyrian spearmen wear a distinctive uniform
with crested helmets, round shields and straps across their chests.
Spearmen appear first in Tiglath-pileser's reign (745-727 BC), probably
drawn from the western half of the Empire. An Assyrian soldier cuts off
the head of an enemy soldier. A literal head-count was the standard
means of estimating the numbers of enemy dead. You will never see a dead
Assyrian depicted on an Assyrian relief.

This alabaster wall relief is the upper part of a panel once divided
into two registers by a central band of inscription. The remains of text
at the bottom, removed by the excavator in the nineteenth century to
reduce the weight, is not directly related to the carvings. However, a
separate caption at the top gave the name of the town as U[pa?],
possibly in Turkey.

The first great military empire in ancient history
was the Assyrian Empire. By the time of Ashurnasirpal and Shalmaneser
III in the 9th century BC the Assyrians organized a mighty army of
nearly 200,000 soldiers. Their military strategy was unsurpassed up to
that time, and with the age of iron they were an unstoppable fighting
machine. They brought spearmen, archers, shieldmen, slingers, siege
engines, chariots, and a huge calvary into the battlefield. The mighty
Assyrians dominated the ancient world until they were crippled by the
God of Israel in the reign of Sennacherib. God raised up the Assyrians
to remove Israel out of his sight for their rebellion and idolatry, but
the Assyrians would also be punished also for their wicked ways. They
finally fell to the Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC and passed into
history.

Assyrian Kings Mentioned in the Bible

2 Kings 15:29-
In the days of Pekah king of Israel,Tiglath
Pileserking
of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor,
Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them
captive to Assyria.

2 Kings 15:19-Pulthe
king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand
talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the
kingdom in his hand.

2 Kings 18:9-
And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which [was] the
seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, thatShalmaneserking
of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.

Isaiah 20:1-
In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, whenSargonthe
king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;

2 Kings 19:16-
LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and
hear the words ofSennacherib,
which hath sent him to reproach the living God.

2 Kings 19:37-
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his
god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword:
and they escaped into the land of Armenia. AndEsarhaddonhis
son reigned in his stead.

Ezra 4:10- and the rest
of the nations whom the great and nobleAsnapperbrought
over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the country
beyond the River, and so forth, wrote.

Assur-nasirpal II(885-860
B.C.) A cruel warrior king, he made Assyria into the most fierce
fighting machine of ancient world.Shalmaneser III(860-825
B.C.) His reign was marked by almost constant war. He was the first
Assyrian king to come into conflict with Israel. King Ahab fought
against him, and king Jehu paid him tribute in 841 BC. His royal
inscriptions were more detailed and more numerous than any other king.
His building works were massive just like his father Assurnasirpal II.
SeeShalmaneser
and the Black Obelisk.Shamsi-Adad V(825-808
B.C.) Most of his reign was focused on Babylonia and his own internal
conflicts.Adad-nirari III(808-783
B.C.) The little information about his reign mentions his building
projects at Calah and Nineveh, as well as a conflict at Der in Babylonia
and collecting tribute in Damascus, Syria.Shalmaneser IV(783-771
B.C.) The limited knowledge of his reign reveal some conflicts in
Damascus and a period of decline in Assyria.Assur-dayan III(771-753
B.C.) The little information about this ruler reveals Assyria being in a
period of decline.Assur-nirari V(753-747
B.C.) There is very little information about his reign. The king of
Urartu boasted of a victory over this king of Assyria in an inscription.Tiglath-pileser III(Pul)
(747-727 B.C.) He restored Assyria to a major world power. He is the "Pul"
mentioned in the Bible and the one who began to destroy Samaria, the
capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He carried many away into
captivity. This captivity is mentioned in his own inscriptions, the
Babylonian Chronicle, and the Bible.Shalmaneser V(727-722
B.C.) He besieged Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of
Israel. He died during the siege after imposing taxation on the holy
city (Asshur), and his son Sargon came to power.Sargon II(722-705
B.C.) He completed the destruction of Samaria and the captivity of
Israel. He was also famous for his magnificent palace with his colossal
winged guardians.Sennacherib(705-681
B.C.) He was the most famous of the Assyrian kings. He mentions the name
of Hezekiah on his prism during his war campaigns, he claimed to have
"Hezekiah captured in his own royal city (Jerusalem) like a caged bird."
His army was defeated at the gates of Jerusalem by the Angel of the
Lord. Sennacherib returned back to Nineveh and was killed violently by
his own son, as mentioned in the Babylonian Chronicle, The Bible, and
various other inscriptions. He also conquered Babylon.Esar-haddon(681-668
B.C.) He rebuilt Babylon, invaded and conquered Egypt by crossing over
the Sinai Desert with Arab camels carrying water for his army, and was
one of Assyria's greatest kings. He died fighting Egypt.Assur-banipal(668-626
B.C.) He destroyed the Thebes in Egypt and collected a great library,
innumerable clay tablets were found.Assur-etil-ilani(626-607
B.C.) It was under his reign that the Assyrian Empire fell.

In the reign of Hoshea, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of
Assyria, twice invaded (2 Kings 17:3,5) the kingdom that remained, and
his successor Sargon II took Samaria in 722 BC, carrying away 27,290 of
the population as he tells in his Khorsabad Annals. Later Assyrian
kings, particularly Esarhaddon (681 BC - 668 BC), completed the task.

The Assyrian Annals. The scribes of the chief cities of the
Assyrians wrote the accounts of the king's military campaigns on
cuneiform tablets, and clay prisms or cylinders. The accounts are very
reliable, even though the accounts do not speak negatively of the
Assyrians and are meant to glorify the king. The annals also give much
detail to geography and Chronology. It is interesting how accurate the
Assyrians were with dates, they made use of an Assyrian Kings List or
the Eponym Canon.

The Assyrian Chronicles and Eponym Canon. The Assyrian scribes
organized their national events whether military, political or religious
every regnal year. The Babylonian Chronicles were structured the same
way. Assyrian records were kept very carefully, they took their dating
and their history seriously. They attached their record of events with
the solar year and with the name of an official who was known as the "limmu."
Their was a new limmu appointed every year. They recorded military,
political and religious events in every year and made references to
eclipses. The Assyrian records are highly dependable and allow Biblical
scholars a very accurate way of dating events and designating "eponyms"
for 244 year in Hebrew history, from 892-648 BC.

The Assyrian King List.
The Assyrian King List reveals a list of the kings of ancient
Assyria in chronological order, from the 2nd millennium BC to 609 BC. It
lists the name of the king, his father's name, the length of his reign,
and some great achievements.

Assyrian Sculptures. The limestone bas-reliefs discovered
from the palace walls of major Assyrian capital cities like Nineveh (Kuyunjik),
Nimrud (Calah), Khorsabad (Dur-Sharrukin), and the bronze bands on the
Balawat Gates reveal a wealth of history. The illustrative events were
carved be professional Assyrian artists like a modern day photographer
on the scene. The carvings reveal the military might and tactics of the
Assyrians, as well as the futility of those nations that defied their
might. These sculptures are on display in museums around the world, for
example: The British Museum in London, The Louvre in France, The Iraqi
Museum, and The Oriental Institute in Chicago.

The Bible. The Old Testament records the history of the Kingdoms
of Israel and Judah, along with the battles of other nations. It
includes the fall of the 10 tribes in northern kingdom of Israel in 722
BC by the Assyrians, as well as the
fall of the southern kingdom of Judah in 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon. The Bible also records miraculous events surrounding people
like Elijah, and Jonah, as well as the slaying of 185,000 Assyrians at
Jerusalem by the Angel of the LORD. The events recorded in 2 Kings
generally agree with Assyrian and Babylonian sources.